My three runs I did after a month off and with treatment from the Chiropractor told me that I was not fixed and also sent me down in a spiral of major disappointment everything I have trained for, everything I have set goals for, both short term and long term, without being over dramatic may have to ripped up and started again, this is a major issue for me and to be honest I dd not handle it that well either, this was a disappointment to me on a personal level as I try so hard to be a better person than I have in the past.
I have flaws in my makeup that I really don't like that I have improved on but not yet mastered work in progress! its a massive kick in the teeth when I handle a situation badly and I look back after and think why did you not find the answers straight away or why think like that when I know its not good to be or think negatively.
My 3 runs were great I loved them they were not really hard after the time off. I always worry that having time off will mean I will never be able to run again when really what I am most scared of is having to start from scratch again which if happened so what? the one thing I have that can never be taken away is the experience of the last 15 months worth of running and training.
How bad is my hip injury and how long will I off running for?
History lesson and listen for those big alarm bells that start ringing half way through this paragraph! It was not until talking to my Mum (Hi Mum) that she reminded my of my younger years growing up, I had a fear of having new trousers and them needing taking up, my Mum telling me to straight and still as she pinned the trousers up one side being more than the other and being shouted at for not standing up straight (but I was Mum honest) so the problem's I am having now go back to when I was a child. (Clearly I have not been lazy the past 30 odd years just looking after my hip!) So like my slimpod journey that is progressing nicely but being a lifestyle change it will take many years to break all the bad habits of the past 46 years and the same is now true of my hip injury.
As for time off running looking back since the London Marathon I have not run as often as I would have liked the 4 weeks off when I first saw the Chiropractor and now one month two months who knows and even after that time I may run again and aggravate the hip again this could be the end of running career (I sure hope not I have many goals still to achieve) I have already sent out an email to cancel/postpone my first race writing that email was so hard it felt like failure (I know its not but it hurts like if t was)
I am at the moment deluding myself about the Great South Run that I may run even with little training. That's the long term goal out the window to run the GRS every year for the rest of my life. For my long term health of being able to exercise for the rest of my life I must do the right things now no matter how hard or painful they are. This is my Paula Radcliffe moment and it hurts like hell in the pit of my stomach.
Now the first paragraph is starting to make sense? My mind is an explosion of thoughts good bad sensible and stupid, sorting them out to suit my journey to make new temporary goals to prepare myself for the realization that all or most of my long term goals are now possibly in tatters, that is very scary and is what sent my journey spinning out of control for a short while. Thankfully www.thinkingslimmer.com has given me the tools to look for and find answers and then the right answers for me and my journey.
My last 3 visit's to the Chiropractor have been to tell him I was suffering from hip pain after 2 rest days after the the training runs. the next coming to terms with what happened and what I could not do (negative thought process one of the bits I hate about me) and finally back on track what can I do to keep fit and healthy without doing any damage to my hip in the healing process.
Swimming and cycle ridding are good. You know about me and money bearing in mind I am paying for the Chiropractor (not cheap but worth every penny in the long run) so swimming is not the best options for training I will do some sessions Hazel said she would come so that gets her out doing something with me which means a lot to her as she can not run so that's great.
That leaves bike ridding I did buy a bike last year rode it to work a few times but I did not get on with it so its been locked away since then, and I ran instead. It is ready to ride I am not looking forward to it as the bike and rider should be as one. I have to do this it has to work I will see where my hip injury takes me then I will look at a proper bike maybe join a bike club and ride some races.
As you can see I have options there are always options we just may not know that at this present time or in what form they may take us. So instead of giving up like in the old days I have had a couple of wobbly weeks fallen off the wagon a little regrouped spoke to professional's my friends my family and my slimpod family and have found the positive's stopped worrying about weather I will or will not be able to run again.
I will take things slowly one step at a time when I'm told that I can or can not do something then I will make decisions on the facts at that time, I have spent to much time worrying about what may happen rather than on right here right now. The plus side is that Bike ridding may well be part of my training plan in the future so that I keep the impact on my joints to a minimum, maybe run shorter distance races in the future so that I can still run and my boot camp I still can not believe how much I loved doing it and miss it now.
So you can see there are options to evolve we should always evolve take stock of our goals and change them to keeps things fresh and us. This is not in anyway Failure (which I thought in the past couple weeks) but adjustments to help us reach our goals.
IF WE CHANGE NOTHING, NOTHING CHANGES. (Trevor Silvester)
So my first official change to my long term goal is................... To run the Great South Run every year provided I am fit and healthy to do so and that by running the Great South Run I do not put my long term health in danger.
Just need to sort though the rest and change them as they need changing and add new ones as they come along they say things happen for a reason, I am excited to see if and where this bike riding malarkey may or may not take me move along Paula Radcliffe, Bradley Wiggins is joining you on my inspiration bench(I draw the line at side burns though). Let this part of my journey play itself out and I hope I reach some major highs like my running career so far.
Sandra Roycroft-Davis Founder and CEO of Thinking Slimmer Happy Birthday xxx
This is my journey to lose weight the natural way after all the negative publicity.Thank god there are good people out there to help people like me.
Hi Darin,
ReplyDeleteI really sympathise with you over your hip injury. I first started running over 25 years ago, to help me lose weight. I lost over 6 stone, ran 3 half marathons.... and picked up some knee pain, which I never sought medical advice for. As I lost control of my eating, started to regain weight, the pain got worse and more frequent, and forced me to stop running.
25 years later, and 11 stone heavier, knee pain was my constant companion, along with a load of other weight-related problems. I set to sorting myself out, found slimpods, and am now half way back to a healthy weight. But just lately my knee pain has been getting worse not better, so I finally took my knees to see the doctor. It turns out I have a torn cartilage, which I have probably had all these years, plus I have osteoarthritis to boot - in all probability, accelerated by the injury as well as my weight.
So, my advice is - don't force your hip to run. Get good advice (can your GP help?), and find other forms of exercise until you can run without worsening your injury. And if it turns out you can't run - find something else. Exercise is important to keeping your weight under control, we both know that - but not at the cost of permanently damaging yourself.
All the best,
Barbara (@revbarbarag)
I am so gutted for you about the running Darin, I know exactly what it means to you and have a knot in my stomach just thinking about how I would react if I were in your situation. But you are so right, you have to do what's right for your long term health and fitness and if that means no running for now then that's what you've got to do.
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased that you've got out there on your bike already. I have never really been into riding but we rented bikes on holiday once and after I'd got settled and felt confident with what I was doing I loved it - the same feeling as running - being outside and getting the blood pumping but you get to go a whole lot further and see a lot more than you could on a run!
And I think you should be proud about how you've reacted to this. OK, so a bit of feeling sorry for yourself (totally allowed I think given the situation) but you've already found the solution - brilliant.
As you've said to me in the past - Darin McCloud marathon runner - no-one can ever take that away from you. Perhaps it won't be a two time marathon runner but perhaps it might be Darin McCloud London to Brighton bike rider instead? Doesn't sound too shoddy to me.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you for the Great South Run - I know how much that race means to you in particular - but you must be sensible about taking part. If you can't I will dedicate my 10 miles to you and absolutely smash last year's time on your behalf.
Take care
Becca x
I've had 7 months off running because of a recurring ankle injury that I now realise was because I switched to barefoot shoes too quickly. Now I'm back and feeling fine, but I too worried that my running days were over. Have you had the hip looked at by a specialist? It would be good to have a firm idea of what is causing the issue because it might give you some ideas about how to solve it.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to the pool, this might be something to explore: http://www.aquajogger.com/
The key thing is, whenever you fall below the standard you set yourself, forgive yourself for it, otherwise it becomes a club that beats you even lower. We're not who we're going to be yet, so any time we're less than we'd like to be should just be treated as an opportunity to learn something that moves us forward. Beating yourself up is like sitting in a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.
We'll run again together some time, however slowly:)
Onward and upward
Trevor